Fire and Magic
by CherryDarlingxo
Summary: Alternate ending to Hard Eight in which Stephanie refuses to listen to Ranger when he tells her to get back with Joe, and confronts him about Abruzzi and their night together.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first time writing for the Stephanie Plum world, and I got inspired by a quote from** _ **Hard Eight**_ **(which I'm going to put below) to write an alternate ending of sorts to the book. A longer author's note will be after the story. Since I tend to ramble, I don't want to take up too much space before the story. I just want to say that I am one hundred percent a Babe, so you might not want to read this if you're a die-hard Joe fan. This story isn't too unkind to him but he doesn't get the girl. I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Stephanie Plum world.**

 **Fire and Magic**

" _Ranger was fire and magic, but he wasn't real. Morelli was everything I wanted in a man, but he wanted me to be something I wasn't."_

I knew I loved Morelli. I also knew that things like marriage, children, and building a life together in the Burg were all things that were at the end of the path if I started a real relationship with him. It was comforting but also terrifying. Good relationships were about compromise, something that I wasn't so good at. If I did end up marrying Joe, that would mean I would have to _compromise_ and give up my job as a bounty hunter so I could be his wife, and he could be happy knowing I was always safe.

I didn't want to quit, though. Maybe someday I would get tired of it and decide on a career change, but I didn't see that day happening any time soon. I also didn't want to get married - at least, I couldn't see myself marrying Joe. He's a good man but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wondering if I'd made the right decision.

I supposed that if I had so many doubts, I shouldn't even be considering a relationship with him, right? I also supposed that it didn't matter. Joe loved me...but he didn't want to be in a relationship with me.

These were all thoughts I had while I was being bandaged up at the ER for the burn on my arm, thanks to Abruzzi. We'd made sure to clean up Valerie at Morelli's house so my mother wouldn't have a conniption when she got home, and then we came straight here. Morelli led me to his car when I was finished and I started to feel panicky. "I think I should check on Val and let my mom know everything is okay on my end," I said abruptly. "She's probably ironing the curtains by now."

Morelli looked at me with a raised brow. "Steph, it's late. I'm sure they're both asleep."

I just needed time to think, time away from both Ranger and Joe so I could know what I really wanted. I guess that it probably didn't matter - Ranger just wanted an occasional bed partner and sent me back to Joe, but Joe wanted a housewife who didn't get kidnapped by crazy old men.

"Please. I would feel better if I stayed there tonight."

He sighed and we quietly drove through the Burg to my parents house. I gave him a quick kiss and went inside. The house was dark and quiet, but felt familiar. I was dead tired. I knew with the house being so full with Val and the girls, there was nowhere to sleep but the couch. I kicked my shoes off and laid down, and it was lights out for Stephanie.

-0-0-0-0-

I awoke to bright light and something poking me on the cheek. I cracked an eye open and saw it was Mary Alice poking me with the end of bright red crayon. "You're going to miss breakfast."

I didn't know how I slept with all the noise that was surely going on in the background but I still felt tired and sore. I got up and followed the now galloping girl into the kitchen. My arm was burning and my muscles ached from sleeping on the cramped couch.

Val looked at me wide-eyed. "You look how I feel. Last night was crazy. Do things like that happen a lot?"

I poured myself a cup of coffee. "Hardly ever."

"Do you want to explain to me how the two of you got kidnapped yesterday?" My mother wanted to know. Damn. Valerie was a loudmouth.

"Not really?"

She just shook her head and gave me a plate of cinnamon rolls to bring to the dining table, so I did and then sat down. My dad was already at his usual place. "Isn't it nice having the whole family under one roof?" I asked him.

He slid his eyes over to me. "I'm thinking about getting an apartment."

I grinned. We all ate breakfast and everyone was quieter than usual, especially Val. I hadn't lied to Joe last night when I said I should check on her. I was worried that last night's experience was too much for her. I was already thinking about the amount of tastykakes and denial that would help me forget about the incident.

I helped with breakfast clean-up, and managed to have a second alone with my sister. "Hey, thank you for saving me yesterday. I know you were probably scared shitless, because I was."

She rinsed off a plate and blew out a shaky breath. "It was just instinct. I knew I had to help you. I've always heard about adrenaline and moms saving their kids from being crushed by a car. Maybe it's the same thing."

"You could've gotten help from someone."

Valerie shut off the water and waved a hand dismissively. "That would've been a waste of time."

I smiled to myself a little. My mother and Valerie were a lot alike; that meant they were women who didn't think bounty hunting was a viable career option and they were at their happiest when they were at home and in the role of wife and mother. Me? Not so much.

They were also pretty bad at showing their emotions, but that was a common theme amongst most members of our family. Love was shown through home cooked meals and leftovers. And apparently, if you're a member of _my_ family, you ran over men in rabbit suits and drove vans through houses for the people you loved.

I was okay with that.

I went to the living room to put on my shoes and grabbed my phone. I really needed a ride home, but I didn't want to call Joe. At that same moment, his name flashed across my screen. Speak of the devil.

"I got a call from Constanza a few minutes ago," he said when I answered. "Eddie Abruzzi was found in his car this morning. Looks like he killed himself." I sat down heavily on the couch.

"He left a note," he continued. "It said he was depressed over some business deals."

It was my general understanding that Abruzzi was certifiably insane, but I didn't think he would take his own life. But I knew someone who would do the job. "It wasn't suicide, was it?"

Joe was quiet for a moment. "If I had any reason to believe it wasn't suicide, there would already be an investigation. Are you okay?"

Somehow, I was relieved that Ranger wouldn't be in any trouble for what he did. I was also relieved that Abruzzi would no longer be able to hurt anyone, but I almost felt guilty for thinking that.

"I'm okay," I said robotically. "Thanks for telling me. I'll call you later, okay?"

I hung up before he could protest.

-0-0-0-0-

I called Ranger but he didn't pick up, so I left a message asking him to call me. I got the keys to Big Blue and went home. I greeted Rex when I got inside and he twitched his whiskers at me. I fed him a grape and he disappeared into his soup can.

Feeling restless and a little lonely, I cleaned up my apartment a little. I needed to get mind off the fact that I had no car, no couch, and no solution for the Ranger and Joe problem. I scrubbed my counters a little harder, hoping the small amount of exercise would distract me.

The day dragged on, and when the sun finally started to make its descent I called it quits on the cleaning. I took a long shower, careful to keep the hot water off my burn, which felt like it was on fire even still. I wondered if I had any burn cream or aloe somewhere. I highly doubted it.

I wrapped a towel around me and dried my hair the best I could with another towel to hopefully keep it tamed for awhile. I had no energy for a blow dryer. I stepped out of the bathroom and froze when I saw Ranger sitting on my bed. A tingle ran down my spine, through my belly, and down into my lower parts. The last time we were in my bedroom together, we'd done some _things_ that I still couldn't stop thinking about.

"Ranger," I said, but stopped there because I couldn't think of what else to say.

There was an air about him that felt dangerous, more dangerous than usual. Of course, that could be my imagination talking since I knew without a doubt that Ranger had been the one to kill Abruzzi. I also knew that he'd never hurt me. He would apparently hurt _for_ me, though, and that knowledge was more heartwarming than I wanted it to be. 'Ranger' and 'heartwarming' didn't necessarily go together. Maybe the words 'Ranger' and 'scary as fuck' did.

I'd clearly told him I couldn't keep doing what we were doing with each other, and that was because I knew near to nothing about him. I was nosy by nature. Not to mention, having a semi-complicated history with one man was probably more than I could handle without adding another into the mix. Morelli was an old, familiar book that I'd read a million times. Ranger was exciting and new and really good in bed.

So maybe I wasn't the best at metaphors. I couldn't forget that Joe was also great in bed. I probably needed to prioritize my life.

I wasn't going to be able to forget about Ranger saying he was an _opportunist,_ and that he would be back in my bed if I didn't repair my relationship with Joe. What was with that, anyway? Why did he think he could tell me to fix things with Joe the day after we slept together? Talk about a blow to the self-esteem.

"Babe," Ranger said, bringing me out of my mind and into the present moment. "I can smell something burning."

"What are you doing here?"

"You called me."

"Yeah, I told you to call me back, not show up in my bedroom unannounced." I could feel my tone getting pissier with each word.

Even with the setting sun as the only source of light in my room, I could see Ranger raise a brow ever so slightly. "Is there a problem?"

"I just figured you wouldn't be showing up here any time soon, since I should be with Morelli and all," I said bitterly, and immediately regretted it when he stood up and walked over to me slowly. I was suddenly aware of my nakedness - besides the towel - more than before and the heat radiating off his body was doing nothing to keep my hormones tame.

"Why aren't you with him?" he asked me softly, his eyes serious.

"Why did you kill Abruzzi?"

Oh god, I really needed to stop with the word vomit. I know that technically I had a filter between my brain and mouth, so why couldn't I use it?

"Also, it's none of your business if I'm with Joe or not," my traitorous mouth continued. My heart was racing. "Why should I listen to you? We both know you're only after one thing, and if I'm single then it would be easier for you to get it. And you know, I haven't forgotten about that little 'entertainment' comment you made. I may get a lot of cars blown up, but not all of them are my fault-"

My words cut off as Ranger laid a hand along my jaw, tilted my chin up, and kissed me with a lot of tongue. It was so good that I lost grip of the towel. Luckily, with us being pressed together from head to toe, it only slipped a little instead of falling to the ground completely. He was hard all over, and I was ready to have sex with him again, current issues be damned. I wanted him bad.

When he pulled away, I had a hard time remembering what we were just talking about. "It is my business," he said, sounding angrier than I'd ever heard him. "Because for some reason, I can't stay away from you. And you're right. If you stay single, I'll be in your bed every chance that I get."

I had a hot flash just thinking about it. At the same time, I could feel my heart sinking. He'd just agreed that he was only looking for sex. And while I knew that already, it was still hard to hear.

"If sex was all I wanted from you, then Abruzzi would still be alive," he continued quietly, as if he could read my mind.

"Are you saying you don't kill for just anyone?"

He regarded me with a curious look. "You're not scared."

"I probably should be. But mostly I'm just glad that Abruzzi can't hurt anyone ever again."

"He would've most certainly tried to hurt you again, Babe. I couldn't let that happen."

"I'm surprised that you trust me enough not to tell someone about this."

His eyes crinkled in an almost-smile. "I know you well enough that you and cops don't exactly see eye to eye on all things. You wouldn't be so good at your job if that wasn't the case. If you'd wanted to rat on me you would've done so by now."

I found myself smiling at those words. "You think I'm good at my job?"

"The way you do your job is _entertaining_ ," he said, and I blushed a little. "But yes. You always seem to get your man despite hardly ever carrying your gun."

"Guns are scary."

"I'm going to ask you again. Why aren't you with Joe right now?"

I thought about that for a moment. "I don't think Joe wants a girlfriend that's a bounty hunter," I explained. "I think maybe he would be more comfortable if his girlfriend was a race car driver or a professional stunt woman."

"He just worries about you."

"Sure, but so do you. The difference is that you don't tell me to get a different job. Besides, Joe may love me, but he doesn't want a relationship with me. He's said so multiple times."

The hand on my jaw tightened a little. "He's an idiot."

I could agree with that.

He stepped back from me a little, and I missed his warmth immediately. I quickly made sure the towel still covered me but his eyes ran the length of my body anyway.

"As much as I'd like to continue this," he said. "I gotta go. I'll call you soon."

He walked out of the room, and though I felt better than I had before our conversation, it still felt unfinished. I was on his heels and stopped him before he could walk out of my apartment.

"Ranger?" He turned to look at me, his hand on the door knob. "Thank you. For...you know. Everything."

This time he did smile fully, and he became even more attractive, if that were possible. My heart did a mysterious fluttering and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign. He made sure that we were making direct eye contact before he replied, and his eyes were warm and made my knees weak.

"No price, Babe."

-0-0-0-0-0-

 **I wanted to write what it would be like if Stephanie decided not to immediately go back to Morelli like she did at the end of** _ **Hard Eight**_ **, and instead explore her feelings for Ranger a little bit more.**

 **I am slowly making my way through re-reading all the books. I started reading this series when I was in high school but I fell off the wagon around book 15 maybe? I don't remember. And it's been several years since then. Obviously I know what some of the big plot points are even if I haven't read all the books yet, but I've made it my mission to finally read all of them and do something I've always wanted to do, which is write out all the ideas in my head.**

 **Please be kind, because this took some courage to post (there are some damn good writers here and I am in awe of all the talent) but I'm excited to read what people think. Leave a review and let me know if you can see this being a continuing story or not…**

 **...and if not, I have another Stephanie Plum story in the works already. ;) This one is marked as complete but I wouldn't be opposed to writing more.**

 **I'm open to questions, PMs, anything. I'm full of theories/thoughts/rants about the series and some of the characters in particular, and if anyone cares to hear them, I have no problem sharing.**

 **Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow. The feedback I got from the last chapter was just so wonderful and unexpected! I'm so happy that I had some folks read and enjoy my story. I've been inspired to write more for this, and that means it will taper off from the original storyline and become a true AU. I'm reading the ninth book now, so you may see some things thrown in there from that book (along with some more references to** _ **Hard Eight**_ **since it's still fresh in my mind) but I'm thinking there won't be much.**

 **Once again, thank you all for the reviews. It means a lot to me!**

 **Fire and Magic**

The next morning's sunlight spilled into my bedroom windows brightly, waking me up before I really wanted to be conscious.

I rolled out of bed anyway and made a pot of coffee. I shared a few Cheerios with Rex before pouring my own bowl. I was such a good hamster mom. Maybe I should even get a dog someday. A dog that was more tame and less hungry than Bob.

My phone rang and I answered as I ate. "Stephanie, it's your mother." I rolled my eyes. "Your sister wants to borrow the Buick."

"What, why? I need to work today and I can't do that without a car."

"She volunteered to drive some other parents to the school so they can chaperone a field trip. Your father is out with our car and I can't get ahold of him."

I groaned. "Fine." I guess technically I did owe her for coming to save me from Abruzzi. "I'll be there soon."

My hair was a fright, but I had no time to fix it so I threw it up in a ponytail. My face was bruised but I didn't feel like prodding it just so I could do a poor job of covering it with makeup, so I left it alone. Maybe it would my toughen up my image as a bounty hunter. Riiiight.

I called the bonds office as soon as Valerie motored away in big blue. "I need a ride," I told Connie. "Is Lula there?"

"She's here. I'll have her come pick you up. I heard about Abruzzi."

"Yeah, crazy that he killed himself, huh?"

"Sure is."

We were both quiet for a moment. Connie was probably reflecting on whether or not I knew the truth, and I was that sure she did. She knew everything.

The burn on my arm still throbbed a little, but it was easier to ignore now. I was in much better spirits now than I had been in the day before. Deep down, I knew I'd never forget about Abruzzi or what he put me through. Probably I was going to have nightmares about men in Clinton masks and rabbit costumes for awhile.

Just thinking about it made me crave a doughnut.

Lula turned into my parents driveway and I slid into the passenger seat a moment later. "Girl, you okay? I heard from my friend at the hospital that you came in with a nasty burn."

"Isn't that against HIPPA laws or something?"

"Shit, I don't know. I'm not a medical professional."

That was something to be grateful for. And as always, word traveled fast around Trenton. "I'm okay."

The fact that I still had no car or couch didn't bother me as much as it had the day before...and apparently it showed. "You're smiling awful big for it being so early," she commented as she turned towards the office. "Not to mention you got kidnapped by some crazy guy."

"I got a good night's sleep."

"Hunh. You don't look well rested. Did you have someone sharing your bed? Joe Morelli maybe?"

"Uh, no."

Lula looked confused. "You're not with him, are you?"

"Nope. I'm thinking he might be tired of me. He doesn't like my job. I think I stress him out."

"He can't hang with the big bad bounty hunters."

I couldn't help but laugh. Me? A big bad bounty hunter? Only in my dreams.

-0-0-0-0-

Connie immediately handed me two files when I got into the office. I raised my eyebrows when I opened the one on top. "Mooner? Again?"

She just shrugged. "He got pulled over for speeding, and then ended up getting arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia. I think it was probably the smoke smell and red eyes that gave him away."

"Imagine that."

I opened the other file and grimaced at the picture before I could even read anything about the skip. Kirk Miller was only in his thirties but looked to be about twice his age. His eyes were droopy and bloodshot, his hair needed cut and and his face needed shaven. He got arrested for being drunk and disorderly and managed to make things worse by resisting arrest. The notes said he'd actually attempted to urinate on the arresting officer before the handcuffs could be slapped on.

I sent a disgusted look to Connie. "I know," she did sympathetically. "You might want to wear a hazmat suit when you pick him up."

If I wanted to get this guy today, I would need to find the sweet spot between the time he woke up and the time he would start drinking. I did _not_ want to get peed on. I also refused to have another Andy Bender, a recent skip I had that was also a drunk. He gave me the slip a few too many times. He also had about five pairs of my handcuffs.

"Lula," I said sweetly. "You want to come with me?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I don't know, is there a chance that this Kirk fucker will piss in my car or on my shoes?"

I shrugged innocently. "A very small one, I'm sure." She didn't look convinced. "Oh come on, please? I should be getting an insurance check any day now. Then I'll buy a car and we can pick up skips that way."

Awareness made the back of my neck tingle, and I turned around to see Ranger walking through the front door of the bonds office. My body felt warm as our eyes met, and he looked amused. He probably thought the dumbfounded look on my face was funny. He stepped behind me and held out his hand for Connie to give him some files, and in the process his other hand landed at the small of my back. It took everything in me to resist leaning back and using him as my personal resting place.

"What do you say?" I asked Lula. "I'll pay for any and all damages."

"Damn straight," she said, and heaved herself out of the chair.

"I brought a car here for you to drive," Rangers deep voice said near my ear and my neck hurt from how quickly I looked over at him.

"Absolutely not. I probably owe you about a million dollars with all the cars of yours that I've destroyed."

He slanted me an annoyed look and I shut up immediately. He reached into his pocket and I held out some keys. I recognized them immediately as _Porsche_ keys.

Connie and Lula were staring at us intensely, and I could feel the pressure weighing down at me. Finally, after a few tense moments, I blew out a breath and grabbed the keys. "Only until I get a new one."

He pressed a chaste kiss to my temple. "Keep it for as long as you need. I promise it's spider-free."

Then he was gone.

I turned back to the other occupants of the room and they were both slack-jawed. "What?"

Lula had sat back down in the chair at some point. She fanned her face a little. "Well, now I know why you're not with Morelli."

-0-0-0-0-

Lula and I both decided (well, I decided and she had no choice but to agree since I was driving) that our plan would be to pick up Miller, get lunch, and then grab Mooner at the end of the day. Considering we both knew that Mooner was a space case and would most likely talk us into hanging out for awhile before we could actually take him to the police station, this seemed like the most time-saving option.

Much to my dismay, Kirk lived in an older apartment building. Skips that lived in apartments were my least favorite. If they were in a house, I usually had at least two or more options in which to enter the home and usually no stairs to drag them down if needed unless it was a multi-story. Judging by the looks and location of his building, there most likely wasn't a working elevator inside.

"How you wanna do this?" Lula asked as we got out of the Porsche. "Good bounty hunter, bad bounty hunter? I can always stun him. Or, I can do the charming and distracting and then you cuff him."

The latter was a tactic we always used. And it almost never worked.

"Maybe he will be pleasant. Maybe he will come right with us to the station."

Judging by the look on her face, she wasn't so convinced. We trudged up three flights of stairs and we were both a little winded by the end. "I need to lay off the doughnuts."

I knocked on Miller's door and heard some shuffling around. I patted myself to check for necessities. Cuffs, check. Pepper spray, check. A take no shit attitude...I was still working on that one.

I was just about to knock again when Kirk opened the door, squinting at me with blurry eyes. "What do you want?" He asked roughly.

"Hi, my name is Stephanie Plum. You missed your court date, and I'm here to take you to-"

I caught his arm movement at the right second and I had my boot in the door before he could slam it in my face. He glared at me through the crack. "You're not taking me anywhere, bitch. I know how you are."

It was so nice to know that my reputation was enticing such a reaction.

"Now you listen here you asswipe," Lula started. "We were gonna be real nice about this but if you wanna be difficult then you might see the bright, sparkly end of my stun gun." She held it up in the air and pressed the button for good measure and it sparked ominously. I leaned away a little out of instinct - Lula was not a careful person and I had previous bad experiences with stun guns.

"Fuck off!" He snarled, slamming the door harder on my foot. I winced but he seemed to take the hint that I wasn't going to move. I was reaching into my back pocket for my cuffs when he grabbed my arm and pulled me into his apartment, slamming me into the wall, his hand on the back of my head. Luckily, I'd turned my head and hadn't broken my nose or something, but there was a distinct burning around my ear where it'd made contact with the drywall. I wasn't sure how these situations always get turned around on us. I always felt prepared up until the moment of action.

I could hear Lula yelling and realized he'd shut the door. Not smart enough to lock it, though - she barged right in and hit him straight in the knee. He grunted but didn't relent his hold on my arm or my scalp. My hair was starting to pull painfully, and I was starting to get angry.

I swung my booted foot backwards as hard as I could and hit him in between the legs. He went down like a sack of potatoes, and then Lula stunned him for good measure. Drool started oozing out of his mouth a second later.

I was breathing heavy and my head felt tender in multiple places; not to mention my arm was going to have five sausage shaped bruises from his meaty, disgusting hand. Ugh.

"There's no way we're getting him down the stairs, right? He's gonna be heavy," I said.

"We could roll him."

I shrugged and we both grabbed a leg and tugged. It was a no go. He was 285 pounds of dead weight.

"Maybe you could call for back-up," Lula suggested.

I knew I could probably call Eddie, Carl, or Joe, since Kirk needed to end up at the station anyway, but I didn't want to see Joe at all just yet. So I called Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo, yourself. I need some help."

"With?"

"A skip. He's too heavy."

"What did you do, kill him?"

Dark humor at its finest. "No, but he's going to be asleep for awhile and I would like him out of my sight before he wakes up."

"That bad?"

"You could say that."

He hung up after telling me he'd be here in five. He didn't even ask where I was.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's going on with your love life?" Lula asked as we waited. "Last I heard, you and Ranger were wine-drinking buddies. And you're not sleeping with Officer Hottie. What gives?"

"I could give you details, but I'm not even sure what's going on with my love life. There's not much to tell."

That was a small lie. I _did_ just sleep with Ranger recently, but I wasn't telling her that.

"Seems to me like you've got a thing for Ranger. Which is understandable because he's probably the hottest man to walk the earth."

Not probably. He _is_ the hottest.

"We should talk about this later," I told her. I could hear boots in the hallway. Ranger appeared in the doorway and glanced over Kirk's limp body with an amused look, but the amusement drifted away when he looked at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Damn, do I look that bad?" I asked Lula.

"Nah," she said. "I mean, you look like you got thrown into a wall. But that's to be expected considering that's what happened."

Tank appeared behind Ranger and they circled Kirk.

"You two can go downstairs and wait. We'll bring him down."

"Don't you want help?"

Ranger didn't take his eyes off the man on the floor. "I think we got it."

Lula followed me closely down the stairs. "I think he was angry," she whispered.

I shuddered. I didn't want to be Kirk Miller right about now.

-0-0-0-0-  
 **Ranger**

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this," Tank said. I dragged my eyes from the drooling behemoth of a man on the ground up to my friend and work partner.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about _that_ ," he said, pointing towards the door that Lula and Stephanie just exited from. "You got it bad for that girl."

"Shut up and help me get this fucker downstairs."

We grabbed Kirk Miller and led his limp body to the stairs and down two flights of stairs. When we got to the last one, I let my grip slacken a little. Tank glanced at me, confused.

"Getting a little tired over here. Maybe we could set him down," I said. He raised a brow like he didn't believe me. "You saw her face. Drop him."

We both dropped the limbs we were holding and Miller rolled down the last flight of stairs smoothly. Watching him land at the bottom with a heavy _thud_ made me feel a little better about the bruises I'd seen on Stephanie's arm and face.

I could feel Tank looking at me. "What now?"

"First the other night with Abruzzi, and now this." He took off down the stairs, shaking his head. He started grumbling under his breath. We hauled the skip outside and I left Tank alone to put him in the backseat to punish him for being a smartass. Lula seemed to be fascinated with the process and drifted towards our car. I walked over to where Stephanie was leaning against the Porsche. She smiled up at me almost shyly. Cute.

"Thanks for the help," she said.

"Are you carrying?" I asked her, and she blushed a little.

"I told you guns are scary. And not always necessary."

"You don't have to use it just because you have it on you, Babe. We talked about this. We practiced."

"You see, I know that, but I don't think my body does. And I don't always remember to grab it when I leave."

I knew she was a little jumpy. Maybe more than a little. But after her run-in with Abruzzi, I would feel more comfortable if she had it with her at all times.

"Try to keep it with you more often. Lula having her gun on her doesn't count."

"Don't let her hear you say that."

I had the urge to roll my eyes, which wasn't something that ever happened before meeting her. She was rubbing off on me.

"Do me a favor and keep the gun on you and not in your cookie jar."

"What do I get in return?" She asked in a sassy tone, her eyes lighting up in a mischievous way.

"Right now? Tank and I will take your skip to the station for you," I said, a little surprised when she didn't protest. I leaned down so I could say what I wanted next without Tank or Lula hearing. "Maybe later on you'll get something else. If you're good."

With our close proximity, I could feel her shiver a little, and I don't think it was from the temperature outside. She placed a hand on my chest and I breathed in her sweet smell. She let out a little sound when I kissed her neck, and I knew that I needed to put some distance between us.

I pulled away from her and got into the Range Rover where Tank was waiting. Lula was chattering his ear off but she skittered off to the Porsche as I got near.

"Hey!" Stephanie called out just as I was about to get behind the wheel. "You never said I had to carry bullets too, you know. I guess maybe we'll have to work out the details later."

And then she laughed as she got in the car and the two of them drove away. I watched until the car disappeared around the corner and out of sight. Tank cleared his throat.

"Not a fucking word," I told him.

I already knew I had it bad for Stephanie Plum. There wasn't any other woman I knew that was quite like her - funny, strong, and somehow innocent even after the shit she's been through. I knew she was still a little scared of me, but she never acted like the mysterious shield I kept between me and everyone else bothered her _too_ much. Well, unless I wanted to count her sense of curiosity as being bothered. Not to mention, I couldn't get her out of my fucking head since the night we slept together. I was going to have a serious problem if she ended up getting back together with the cop. In fact, I would probably end up getting arrested for assaulting a police officer.

I didn't make mistakes often. In my line of work, mistakes led to death and chaos, and so I learned how to avoid even the smallest ones. But I'd made a serious one the day after I slept with Stephanie. I'd emphasized the fact that Morelli loved her, and that she needed to repair her relationship with him. Luckily, Tank didn't know all the little details between Steph and I or he would surely have a lot more reason to grumble. If I were being honest, a relationship probably wasn't the best idea with the kind of life I lived. So I'd had mostly pure intentions for telling her to go back to the cop. It would be safer that way. But I also would be less tempted to go back to her bed - and never leave - if she weren't single. We were at a strange crossroads. I figured that there would only be a day or two left of this until something happened. Either she would reconcile with Morelli or I'd be the one making a move.

I knew that the more time I spent around her, the less I cared about the shield I put up years ago. I had good reasons for it. Stephanie Plum had a way of sidestepping those...and eliciting thoughts about relationships and commitment that I didn't think I would ever have for a woman. She was dangerous. Plain and simple.

-0-0-0-0-

I didn't protest when Ranger insisted that he and Tank be the ones to take Miller to the station. I also knew that I'd promised Lula lunch, and I still had Mooner to pick up, but my head was pounding. She didn't protest when I dropped her back off at the bonds office and took my sore ass home.

I took a shower because I could still feel Kirk's dirty hands on me, and then fell into bed to take a short nap.

I woke up disoriented and could hear a buzzing sound. My phone was ringing from the nightstand where I'd dropped it. I glanced at the clock and saw that I'd been asleep for nearly four hours. I couldn't believe I missed lunch.

"'Lo?" I answered the phone groggily.

"Stephanie?" My mother said, sounding concerned. "Why do you sound like that?"

"I was taking a nap."

She was quiet for a moment. "It's after four."

"Did you need something?"

"It's your sister. She's been in a mood of sorts since yesterday, and the kids are getting unruly. I don't think the field trip went well. Something about the other moms being nosy. Your father is starting to get agitated, too. Mary Alice almost knocked over the television with her galloping."

"You don't say."

"Your grandmother is also driving me up the wall," she hissed, and I almost laughed. "She has a _man_ coming over for dinner. I'm about sick of this house. I need a vacation."

Wow, I think grandma was right about my mother going through the change. She was really grumpy.

"What do you want me to do about it? Maybe I want a vacation too."

"Come over for dinner and help me keep things settled."

"That sounds like the invitation of a lifetime, really, but I should probably get some work done…"

"I'm making chocolate cake for dessert."

"See you at six."

-0-0-0-0-

I was still feeling tired when I rolled out of bed for dinner, and the bruising that had just been near my lip had expanded down my chin. Now I had an entire hand print on my arm and ringing in my ears thanks to Kirk Miller. I felt a little like a raggedy Ann doll.

I took the Porsche to my parents house and I thought it stood out nicely next to all the older modeled American cars on the street. Sharp.

I was really early for dinner, so I hoped that would make up for my beat-up appearance. I could see grandma and my mother standing at the door, led by their motherly intuition to know that one of their family members was home. I waved, but they weren't looking at me. Rather, they were looking at something behind me.

I turned around and saw Joe's truck parked behind mine. He was walking towards me. Well, shit.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"We need to talk. You've been avoiding me."

"I have?"

"Cupcake, I called you at least four times today."

I shrugged. I didn't consider myself to be avoiding him. I just didn't want to talk to him. I figured that the missed calls were because he wanted to talk more about Ranger and Abruzzi, which I had no interest in discussing with him.

"Come inside!" My mother called out to us. "You'll catch a chill."

Yeah right. She just wanted us away from prying eyes of the neighbors. I grumpily went inside with Joe on my heels. I was nearly knocked over by a jumping Mary Alice.

"I thought horses galloped."

"They do, but I'm a special horse. I can jump and fly."

I smiled. If I didn't know any better, I would say that MA was my kid and not my niece. "So like a unicorn?"

She neighed and took off again.

The TV was blaring, I could smell dinner wafting from the kitchen, and I could hear my sister and grandma talking from the other room. Controlled chaos as usual.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner," my mother told Joe before running off to the kitchen. I glared at her back.

It wasn't too long ago that I had been pining away for Joe - for him to call me, ask me out, _anything_. But that was before I slept with Ranger. And now all the thoughts in my head were consumed by a man that was more magic than not.

"What's that smile for?" Joe asked me.

Shit. I really needed to control my reaction to certain thoughts. "What did you need from me, again?"

His eyes warmed a little. A look I knew all too well. He leaned in close to whisper in my ear, his front warm against my back. "Bob misses you. And so do I."

I was about to reply when my I saw my mother peek her head out from the kitchen at us. "Dinner is ready!" I jumped and luckily made my way out of his grasp.

Joe was warm and his body felt nice, but my life was put into a little better perspective at the moment. I could only remember the words ' _there's you and me, and sometime's we're together, but there's no us.'_ That had actually hurt my feelings. I didn't like that. I'd wanted that _us_ with him but...that was before Ranger. With Ranger I felt things that seemed impossible to replicate with anyone else. I didn't even want to try.

I stomped on Joe's foot with my heel before I took off towards the kitchen and smiled at his little grunt of surprise. Serves him right. Unfortunately, he was following me through the house anyway instead of leaving like I wanted.

It was going to be a long night.

-0-0-0-0-

 **I am a little nervous about what you all will think about Ranger's POV. That's definitely new for me too. Joe is trying to worm his way back in, but don't worry. It won't work. ;)**

 **I don't know how long this story will end up being, I'm just having fun for now. Still working on the other story too. Leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I honestly did not mean for more than a month to go by! I wish I had more time to write. I want to thank everyone for the kind reviews...I hope everyone likes this next installment for the story.**

 **Fire and Magic**

Dinner at the Plum household was always the same. Lots of delicious food would be provided. My father would be quietly and steadily eating, and my grandmother would have something to say about her most recent adventures to the funeral home. My mother would be seated like a queen at the head of the table - judging her subjects and making sure we all appreciated the meal she made for us. Angie and Valerie would be the most well-behaved and normal while Mary Alice would be eating by sticking her face directly to the plate (because horses can't use their hands to eat, _of course_ ) and I would be stuck in the middle of it all.

And then there was Joe, who would surely be annoying the shit out of me.

I hadn't counted on Albert Kloughn being there when I stepped into the room, and I bit back a sigh when I spotted him.

"Heya, Stephanie," he said eagerly. "Got any good cases lately? I could help you, you know. I still have my big flashlight."

"Do you have a gun?" I asked him.

"Well, no. Not yet. But I could get one."

Valerie shot me a dirty look. "No guns. Not around the kids."

Albert looked torn. "Of course, guns are dangerous. Do you have a gun?" He asked me.

I shrugged non-committedly when everyone in the room turned to look at me. They all knew I had one but they were begging me not to encourage Albert. Joe looked like he wanted to laugh. "Everyone in Jersey has a gun," my father grunted.

"Do you have one?" I asked him.

"I've got more than one. And no, you can't touch them." He pointed at my grandmother, who had just walked into the room and caught the tail-end of the conversation.

"Who, me?" Grandma asked innocently.

I slipped past Grandma and into the kitchen, leaving Joe in the dust. If grandma wouldn't be a good enough roadblock for him, then Albert surely would be. My mother was spooning some potatoes into a serving dish when I walked into the room. The air in the kitchen was warm and humid from all the cooking, and I could see the chocolate cake sitting on the counter, looking delicious. I leaned against the counter and sighed.

"Is everything okay?" my mother asked, surprising me.

"Peachy fine."

Except that I had my ex-boyfriend - or whatever he was - in the next room and my current... _whatever_ on my mind. I also had a headache that was growing in intensity by the second. Life was complicated at the moment, and all I wanted was another nap and to devour half of the chocolate cake sitting next to me.

She looked at me in disbelief. "We haven't seen Joseph around here for awhile. I didn't think you were with him."

My mother was quite clearly fishing for information. "I'm not," I told her. "I mean...I don't want to be."

"I don't think he's quite the character he used to be when he was a teenager."

She had a point about that, but I was afraid to tell her that I wasn't quite the person I used to be, either. Not since becoming a bounty hunter. I hadn't realized that when I blackmailed my cousin into giving me the BEA position, that it would completely turn my life upside down. I was a person who had done and seen things I wasn't exactly proud of, but I still felt like I was doing credible work most days. I was a woman who'd been married and divorced and made her own decisions, which was a far cry from the naive girl who'd lost her virginity to Joe Morelli on the bakery shop floor.

I didn't want my love life to come full cycle. I'd loved Joe when I was a teenager. But there was a reason we hadn't ended up together immediately back then even though he was my first. We weren't right for each other. I didn't want him to be my last. All the growing up in the world couldn't make us right for each other.

I didn't say any of those thoughts aloud. I was zoned out, focused on chocolate cake and my own romantic crises. When I shook myself out of my stupor, my mother was watching me curiously. She wiped her hands on her apron and grabbed a knife out of the block with one and pulled the cake pan closer with the other.

When she started cutting into the sugary goodness, I panicked a little. "What are you doing?!"

She plopped two pieces on a plate and handed me one. "You look like you've had a rough day."

"No kidding. But dessert before dinner?" I glanced towards the dining room and caught a glimpse of the clock before I could turn back. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. "It's after 6!"

My mother just shrugged and took a bite of her cake. "The roast is already out of the oven. It can wait a few minutes."

I was stunned for minute, but when I realized that I wasn't actually in the twilight zone, I grabbed a fork and ate from my own piece of cake. And it was damn good.

Only the scraping of fork on plate signaled the end of our almost peaceful time together. She sighed as she rinsed the plate. "You know, I used to have quiet time," she said wistfully. "I love your sister and the girls but this place is a zoo."

I laughed. "Now you sound like dad. Just less gruff."

"The two of us used to have some dinners alone when your grandmother was out and it was nice. I miss that."

I felt bad for her. My mother wasn't always my biggest fan, and in general our family wasn't very emotional or open with our feelings. This was new territory for both of us.

"Maybe you two should go out to dinner," I told her. "Somewhere nice."

Her befuddled expression clearly said that she'd never thought of that before. "That's an idea."

We got rid of the evidence of our cake binge, but there would be no hiding the big square that was missing from the cake. "I could add more icing," she said, and I shrugged.

My father appeared in the doorway a moment later, looking alarmed. "Helen, what's going on?"

"Oh Frank, go sit down. Dinner is on its way out."

She handed him a bowl of green beans and shooed him out the door, and I grabbed the potatoes. "Do you think he'll be mad about us eating the cake?"

She waved her hand around in a rare, sassy move that reminded me of my grandmother. I swore that sometimes grandma and I were like aliens placed inside a normal and mostly well-adjusted family. It was nice to see that the Mazur genes weren't _completely_ dormant inside of my mother.

She grabbed the roast and said over her shoulder, "Sometimes you just need to eat dessert first."

-0-0-0-0-

I'd been right about dinner. Grandma chatted through most of it, with my mother chiming occasionally. Mostly she was giving Joe and I a suspicious look, like she knew something wasn't quite right.

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time dessert rolled around, and I excused myself before the cake could be brought out. I didn't mentioned to anyone else that I'd already sampled the cake before dinner, and my mother gave me a knowing wink as I left with Joe on my tail.

"Another porsche, huh?" Joe said as we stepped outside. His voice had a hardened edge to it. "Manoso really set you up."

"Really, did you need something from me?" I asked in a pissy tone.

"I told you that we needed to talk."

"No thanks," I said, and skirted past him towards the car.

"That's fine Cupcake," he called out after me. "I'll just follow you until you give in!"

I ignored him as I got in the car and took off from the curb. I headed towards my apartment and blasted a little bit of hard rock on the radio to keep my mind off annoying Morelli men. If I ignored him long enough, he would give up, at least for tonight. That much I was sure of. I took a few unnecessary turns to hopefully throw him off. About four blocks from my building I spotted Joe's truck two cars behind me. I rolled my eyes.

He parked next to me in the lot and followed me upstairs, whistling to himself as I unlocked my door. I had little patience on a normal day, and after this past week I had less than usual, which meant I was about ready to explode.

I could feel another presence in my apartment immediately as I stepped inside but not in a creepy way. It was more like a the hair on my neck was standing up and my skin was tingling type of way. That could only mean one thing…

I stopped in my tracks, causing Joe to nearly run into me.

"Babe." Ranger looked dangerous standing my in living room; dressed in all black and his face set in a harder expression than normal. Usually, Ranger had a lethality about him that was smooth and calm - but still scary as shit. His aura tonight was different, like he was tightly coiled and ready to off someone at a moment's notice.

Joe seemed equally as wound up from where he stood behind me.

"What's up?" I asked him, hoping my voice sounded casual but I knew it sounded as nervous as I felt.

Ranger held up a file that I hadn't even noticed was in his hand. "Got a job I wanted your help with."

"Okay. Joe was just leaving."

"Hell if I am."

I turned around and shoved him towards the kitchen. "Excuse us!" I called out to Ranger.

"You wanted to talk? Okay, let's talk," I said, giving him a pointed look.

"What the hell is going on between you two?" Joe said loudly, pointing towards the living room. I winced. "And don't give me any bullshit about working together. I know there's more than that."

"You and I aren't together, Joe. It's none of your business!"

"That's where you're wrong, Stephanie."

"I don't know where this is coming from," I told him. "What happened to 'there is no us'? What happened to you saying you loved me but didn't want to be with me?"

"Things would be fine between us if you didn't insist on chasing criminals all day. I mean, look at you," he said while gesturing to my arm and face. "Isn't getting kidnapped and held hostage by Abruzzi enough for you to realize that this isn't the job for you? He put you _and_ your family in danger."

I could feel myself entering a stage of anger that wasn't easy to reach. There was mad, and then there was _pissed off_. I only experienced these moments a few times in my life. One had been when I caught Dickie cheating on me. The other had been the short moments before I'd hit Joe with my car and broke his leg.

"Don't you think I know that? That situation has been resolved. No thanks to you," I said pointedly, and his expression grew dark at what I was implying. "How well I do my job isn't your problem. And neither is what I decide to do with my career."

"You're certifiably insane," he said, and I glared at him. "You do realize you escalate every situation until it's out of control, right? The Abruzzi thing could've been over long before it began if you would've just given up on finding Evelyn and Annie."

Before I knew it, I had formed a fist with my hand and attempted to punch him straight in the gut. Why did I go for the stomach? I wasn't sure. I figured the face was too easy. Plus, I didn't want to hurt my hand but I _did_ want to hurt him a little. He must have been expecting it though, because he grabbed my arm to stop me. I yelped a little when he touched the bruises that were already there from my skip.

The next few moments were a little blurry. I knew that Joe and I weren't exactly being quiet, but I sort of forgot Ranger was in the other room listening. One second, Joe had his hand wrapped around my arm and the next, Ranger had Joe pinned against the wall much like Kirk had done to me earlier in the day. It didn't look pleasant.

"Get the fuck off me! I didn't do anything to her."

Ranger replied by pushing Joe harder into the wall.

Oh boy. I probably needed to step in. "He didn't hurt me." Ranger leveled me with a serious look. He didn't say anything but I assumed he was trying to say _really?_ "Okay, he didn't mean to." I held up my arm. "These are from Kirk Miller. It was an accident."

Joe was let go a few moments later. His face was red and he looked beyond angry. He glared at both of us but pointed at me specifically. "You're both fucking crazy."

"You need to watch yourself," Ranger said darkly.

"Yeah, whatever. Have fun with him, cupcake. He'll get you killed."

He left, and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be the last time I heard from him. He was embarrassed, but he'd be back.

"Damn. Maybe you shouldn't have done that. He _is_ a cop," I rambled nervously.

"He's a cop that just assaulted you."

The word _assaulted_ swam around in my head. "I tried to assault him first," I said, my voice sounding weak and tiny to my own ears. Ranger raised a brow at me. "I tried to punch him in the stomach, and that's when he grabbed my arm."

"Why did you try to punch him?"

"He called me insane." I was stunned when Ranger barked out a laugh. He usually wasn't very open with his emotions.

"You're not insane, Babe. He just can't handle you."

The warm look in his eyes made me feel fuzzy on the inside. I had a small amount of deja vu to what Lula told me earlier in the day about Joe not being able to handle a bounty hunter. Clearly she was right.

I wasn't sure that I wasn't _actually_ crazy, though. It was a possibility. I mean, punching someone in the stomach was tame compared to some of the things I'd done in the past.

"So, you don't think that he will try to get revenge or, I don't know, press charges?" I asked, still on edge, but Ranger didn't answer me right away. He flipped on the kitchen light and didn't miss the way I winced at the sudden brightness.

"Are you feeling okay?"

He took my hand gently and looked at my arm, which didn't look any worse than it had before Joe had grabbed it.

"Fine, my head just hurts."

His warm hands on my body were doing things to me, even though I knew he had no intention of doing so. But god, did he have to be so sexy _all_ of the time? It just wasn't fair. He touched the side of my head gently and I hissed. He didn't look happy.

"You have a bump on your head. Has it been hurting all day? Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?"

"No, and I know where you're going with this. I'm fine."

"Maybe I could convince you to take a trip to the doctor anyway."

"No doctors."

His moves his body close to mine, his hand moving from the bump on the side of my head around to the nape of my neck, tugging on my hair lightly so that I was looking up at him. His other hand went around my waist to make sure I had every inch of my torso pressed against his. When his lips touched mine in a kiss that was softer than our usual, the lower half of my body wanted to join in on the fun, too.

He pulled away from me all too quickly. "If you won't go to a doctor, maybe you'll let me take care of you."

Heat shot from cheeks all the way down to my toes. "Maybe. I'll think about it."

"I'll make it worth your while."

"Are you going to eat Tastykakes and watch _Ghostbusters_ with me?" That would be the experience of a lifetime.

"Better," he told me, leaning in to whisper in my ear. "I'm taking you to the Batcave."

-0-0-0-0-

 **Some of you may not like the seemingly sudden niceness from Helen Plum - but hear me out, okay?**

 **I'm not a huge fan of canon-Helen, and most of the fanfiction stories on here really take her one-dimensional characterization by Janet and turn her into something deeper. To me, I don't think Janet really thought too much about how Helen would be received by her readers, and so she uses the same lines for her throughout all the books and it makes her seem like a terrible mother (which she is, but I digress).**

 **But in the earlier books, Helen has some really great moments. Like how she talks about going back to nursing school, and when she encourages Stephanie to go after one of her skips after he threatens Grandma Mazur. Since this fic takes place after** _ **Hard Eight**_ **, I believe that it's logical to give Helen some redeemable qualities. It's not too far in the series that it's totally unbelievable. Just slightly so.**

 **This is not to say that I don't agree with anyone who characterizes Helen differently. You might see in my later stories that she doesn't fare as well as she did in this one.**

 **That was a lengthy explanation, but I just have a lot of thoughts about the book series (and movie…) and almost no one to tell them to in my real life! I also didn't want anyone to be angry with me before I explained myself.**

 **I hope you all liked this chapter. Like I've mentioned, I am working on a couple new things that I hope to put out soon. Thank you!**


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